Slings are regularly used with firearms to allow for a convenient method of carry and for weapon retention in dynamic environments. Traditional slings mount onto the bottom of a weapon at two points, fore and aft, allowing for suitable carry over long distances and may be used as a steadying aid to improve weapon accuracy. While it offers the user the ability to carry the weapon comfortably over the shoulder or securely across the back, the traditional, bottom-mounted 2-point sling hinders weapon usage in dynamic combat environments since the weapon is stowed in a non-useable orientation. While 2-point slings may be used in combat as an accuracy aid by being wrapped around the arm or other techniques, this encumbers the user through entanglement in the sling itself and is mostly useful only for long-range engagements.
Due to these limitations, side-mounted 2-point or 3-point slings were developed to allow for improved usage as these systems allow the user to carry a weapon comfortably on the front of the body in a usable low-ready position instead of over the back or shoulder. These systems typically incorporate the ability to carry over-the-back or shoulder, like a traditional sling, since these carry positions are useful for climbing, swimming, low (belly) crawling or when maximum frontal dexterity is needed when carrying supplies or wounded. While these slings were a major improvement over the traditional sling, they primarily were intended for use from a single-side and require manual adjustment to allow for transitions from side-to-side in dynamic situations. Additionally, due to the amount of strap material used to wrap around the body, they can also interfere with chest-mounted equipment, such as on load-bearing vests. Traditionally, sling swivels have been used to secure slings to the weapon. These swivels have taken many forms but they all have similar characteristics: namely, they are rotatable (swivel) about a point and are usually an elongated loop through which sling material may be threaded. They have been positioned on either side of the weapon, so that the sling may be said to be mounted on either side, or on the upper and lower surfaces of the weapon, so that the sling may be said to be mounted along the weapon, or a combination thereof.
However, such swivel slings can encumber or entangle the user and thus require quick detachment from the firearm. The quick detach or “QD” interface was thus developed in order to enable rapid removal of a sling from a firearm. The QD interface includes a “QD socket” including a female portion of the interface and a QD body including a male portion of the interface. The QD socket (sometimes referred to as a “swivel socket”) typically includes an axial cavity sometimes having an annular ring into which a portion of the QD body can selectively couple to. The QD body typically includes some type of loop or bail for either threading a sling through or for coupling to via a clip such as the snap clip illustrated in U.S. Design Pat. 679,580 or as described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,544,153. The QD body also typically includes a “connection post” that fits into and interfaces with the axial cavity of the QD socket. In particular, many QD bodies feature an internal spring loaded plunger that biases a plurality of ball bearings through the QD connection post. The ball bearings then interface with a ridge in a QD socket and hold the QD body in place. When desired, the user depresses the plunger and the bias on the ball bearings is removed, allowing them to roll into the casing and thereby allowing the QD body to be removed from the QD socket.
Some exemplary QD sockets include the EZ CARBINE QD SWIVEL ATTACHMENT POINT from DANIEL DEFENSE, and the RAIL MOUNT QD SLING SWIVEL from DANIEL DEFENSE, to name a few. Some exemplary QD bodies include the QUICK-DETACH SLING SWIVEL from VLTOR WEAPON SYSTEMS, the QD SLING SWIVEL from DAMAGE INDUSTRIES, the QD SWIVEL from DANIEL DEFENSE, and the HEAVY DUTY FLUSH BUTTON SWIVEL from MI, to name a few.
Popularity of the QD interface has led manufacturers to include QD sockets on many firearms and firearms accessories and has led many users to add QD sockets to their firearms. However, the QD body is often large and adds weight to a firearm. Also, the QD interface is believed by some to be vulnerable to detachment under severe static and dynamic force situations. Thus, there is a need for an adapter able to couple to a QD socket but having lighter weight, smaller size, and a more reliable and/or semi-permanent coupling mechanism than existing QD bodies.